PACE OF PLAY

 

Can you think of anyone whose game improves when those around them play slow? Or by just standing around, and then standing around some more, waiting for the green to clear? Neither can we.  Griffith Park Golf Club’s pace of play policy is simple: a round of golf should take no more than 4 ½ hours, and preferably just 4. That means it is everyone’s responsibility to see that your group, including you yourself, gets a move on. In practice that means always keeping up with the group ahead of you.  Never mind that the group behind you isn’t pressing you.  They’re probably just laying back to accommodate themselves to your pace.

 

Here are some of the things you can do to help keep the pace up:

  • Send the first two players who holed out to the next tee box. If they can hit, they should do so.
  • Do scoring on the next tee box.
  • Think about what shot you intend to make as you are walking/driving up the fairway.  By the time you get to your ball you should already know more or less what shot you intend to hit.
  • Always keep an eye on everyone else as they hit, so that you can help spot their ball if/when they don’t know where it went.
  • If you aren’t certain you can find it, hit that provisional.  Remember, too, you only have 3 minutes to search.  (Alternative: be ready to use the alternative to stroke and distance local rule we adopted:  under penalty of two strokes, drop a ball at the edge of the fairway no nearer the hole than where you believe your ball entered the jungle or flew OB, and proceed. See Local Rule E-5.  Remember: you only have 3 minutes to search!)
  • Figure out how your putt breaks while others are lining up theirs.  Be ready to go when it’s your turn.
  • If you’re falling a bit behind, the first two to putt out should move to the next tee and tee off.
  • Play ready golf!

 

Tournament Marshal(s)

Marshals - The Griffith Park Golf Club may enlist Tournament Marshals to aid in correcting Slow Play at Club Tournaments. 

  • TMs will be free to roam through the Course being played to assist problem 4somes in speeding their position on the Course.
  • The TMs may position themselves on holes with traditional problems like- Wilson hole 2 has a lot of balls going right and being posted on the hill to warn the tee box of a no-hit condition.
  • The TMs may put a 4some “on-the-clock” in order to speed them up due to their lagging behind. When this warning is given the 4some has to make up a minimum of 5 minutes time on the very next hole. Assume 15 minutes per hole on average. This would be 1/3 of the distance of an average hole.

 

Penalty for Slow Play

  1. Any foursome that is more than a hole and a half behind the group in front and over a 4hour 30 minute pace will have each member in the foursome flagged. Those flagged will be placed in the last group of any event they sign up for for a month.